I Will Bite Every German Shepherd If I Have To

I know the rest of the world calls it football but we have a conflict here in America, so soccer it is.

As I write this, America is getting ready to take on Germany and by time you read this there is already a winner.

Anyway, saw a video yesterday of Will Ferrell giving a pep talk to the U.S. team. During the talk he says that he will bite every German player if he has to. Funny, and it reminded me of what I was always told about prong collars.

A prong collar, I was told, was the best collar to use for training because it gives a more natural correction. The collar acts like another dog biting the dog’s neck. Almost as ridiculous as Will Ferrell saying he is going to bite every German player.

Prong collars are becoming popular again but I need you to lean in close and listen very carefully.Do NOT use a prong collar while training in the presence of other dogs, especially in a group class.

Some people wonder why I am so hung up on prong and choke collars. It’s simple really:

FIRST: You don’t need them.

SECOND: They can cause more problems than they fix.

Case in point: Are you familiar with the term “Cross associations.”

This is a term I am very familiar with because I saw it happen all the time without even knowing what it was.

In my younger, less experienced, choke and prong collar training days, the dogs would walk into class. They were a happy, excited group. Six weeks later a different group of dogs would walk out.

Some were shells of what they were. Others had become aggressive and some just shut down.

What happened?

Why were the dogs acting like this? The aggressive behavior was scary.

Cross associations!

You see, when your dog has a prong collar on and sees another dog, your dog will start pulling. Your dog is pulling because being the social creature he is, he wants to check out his own kind.

Sniff butts and all that.

Your dog is pulling so you crank on the leash giving the “natural” correction to stop the behavior. Your dog is going to feel the pain of the correction while looking AND thinking about the other dog. Your dog stops pulling but sees another dog. He wants to go over and say hi so he pulls. You crank the leash and your dog again feels pain while looking AND thinking about the other dog.

Starting to get the picture? – Cross associations. If it happen enough times, you could have a bonafide dog aggressive dog on your hands.

Thankfully we had the opportunity to meet and you tune in everyday to train your dog.

You don’t need prong or choke collars. You can train your dog to walk on leash with just a flat buckle collar.